Jesus is the Vine
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: Talk about youth camp and the bear fruit theme.
Talk about a vineyard and making wine.
Our passage tells us how to bear fruit.
1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
To bear fruit we must abide in Him.
But what does that mean? Let’s begin with some simple definitions for this passage.
1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
I am the true vine. Jesus… Talking about a grape vine.
True because , pokeberries, and moonseed look like grape vines but are toxic.
The Father is the vinedresser. What’s a vinedresser?
2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
Does not bear fruit He takes away. What fruit?
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Bears fruit He prunes. On a wild vine it may bear fruit but it is little. prune it and it will make more fruit and be bigger.
The fruit can also be helping others find Christ Jesus.
3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
Clean - what???? Already pruned. Dead and diseased stuff is gone. Fruit is coming and it will be big. Because the Disciples were connected and pruned.
4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
Abide - stay connected. What happens to a branch that gets broken off? DEATH!
What happens to a Christian that gets cut off from the vine. DEATH!
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
To bear fruit you must abide in the vine. You cannot bear fruit on your own. DEATH! Connected you will bear much fruit. Pruned (clean), healthy branches bear the most fruit. It doesn’t make sense but that’s the way it works.
6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
Dead sticks are good for one thing. Heating the house or cooking hot dogs.
8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Talk about the different things - not fruit of the Spirit.
Cowardly - won’t confess Christ when put to the test. Unbelieving, abominable - is a detestable thing. Speaking of the Jewish law for food and abominable food would be pork. This is someone who does things that are completely wicked. Murders, immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, liars - probably the biggest and easiest thing to do wrong. It’s easy to lie.
7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
The wood stove or the campfire - which would you rather be used in? Death comes to those who do not stay connected and growing in fruitfulness,
8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
The Father is glorified by you bearing fruit. What? What happens when your vines bear much fruit? A good harvest. If we are bearing much fruit by abiding in Him then there will be a big harvest. A small harvest brings little glory.
9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
So what makes bearing fruit so sweet? Love!!! God’s love. Jesus’ love. Our love for each other. Staying connected to the vine allows us to experience and share His love. The first fruit of the Spirit is love. Love is the first thing we will experience when accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior.
10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
Now we get to the point of it all. Love. How to experience it and how to stay connected. “Keep My Commandments.”
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 “This is the great and foremost commandment.
39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus commanded a lot of things, but if you have to start with some thing you need to start with the great commandment. Love. If you can do these two you can cover everything else.
11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
Joy - the next fruit of the Spirit. Joy is - the inner attitude of rejoicing in one’s salvation regardless of outward circumstances
Jesus wants His joy to be in you. He wants your joy to be so big that your are overflowing. How is your Joy? Do you rejoice in your salvation, or is it just another thing in a world of stuff.
Is your joy so great that you want to share it? Are you so joyful about your salvation that you want to share it with others?
Remain in the vine and share His joy. Share His joy by sharing His gospel as you love God and love your neighbor.
